There are several types of devices for hair removal known in the art. One type includes mechanical devices used by a user to remove hairs by the user himself or herself. These include shavers and other mechanical devices. These mechanical devices are disadvantageous at least in two aspects, namely they remove the hairs for a relatively short time, and in most if not all cases they cause some degree of pain.
Other types of devices are directed to long term hair removal. Electrolysis devices are based on the use of "electric needles". Such fine needles are inserted into the hair follicle and apply an electric current to each hair. The current heats the hair and causes its carbonization and also heats the tissue near the hair causing its coagulation and partial or full coagulation of the blood capillaries which supply blood to the hair follicle. While such devices can result in permanent hair removal, each hair must be treated individually, making hair removal by this method a tedious often painful, time consuming, and expensive.
Another class of devices are Photothermolysis devices which are usually operated by physicians in clinics. These devices are based either on lasers (e.g. Ruby lasers) such as the laser device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,192 to Zaias or an incoherent light source coupled with filters and elaborate electronics to provide pulses of various durations and wave lengths as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,368 and European Patent publications EP 0 788 814 and EP 0 736 308 to Eckhouse. The Eckhouse documents teach heating the hair directly by a high flux of visible radiation that is absorbed by the hair follicles. Various filters and/or pulse lengths are used depending on the depth of penetration desired and the color of the hair being removed.